The Blog

Step-by-Step SCCM 1511 Upgrade Guide

Microsoft has just announced the release of SCCM 1511. Before performing your SCCM 1511 upgrade, we recommend that you read all the available resources and carefully plan the upgrade process throughout your SCCM 2012 R2 SP1 hierarchy. The good news is that our SCCM 1511 Upgrade Guide will list everything you need to know before applying this major upgrade to your existing SCCM 2012 installation. We’ve got you covered !

In this blog post, we will guide you through the whole upgrade process to bring your existing SCCM 2012 R2 SP1 to SCCM 1511. See our complete installation guide if your starting from scratch.

New Features

SCCM 1511 brings a whole new set of features. Don’t get surprised, the gap isn’t as big as 2003 to 2007 or 2007 to 2012. The console has the same look and concepts are the same. If you’re upgrading from 2012, the upgrade process is similar as applying a Service Pack. No need to do a side-by-side migration which is a pretty good news !

We suggest to read our blog post to know everything about the new features before upgrading.

Naming Convention

You may wonder why Microsoft has decided to name the next version of SCCM that way. You may heard the name SCCM Vnext or SCCM 2016 but the final name is simply SCCM. This is due to the fact that SCCM is now part of the new SaaS platform which means that its update cycle will be much quicker than before. Each new version will be named as SCCM YYMM (Year Month). The first release is 1511 (for November 2015). Microsoft needed a way to keep the same upgrade pace than Windows 10 and decided to opt for the same naming convention which makes sense. Here’s chances that a new build of Windows will simultaneously bring a new SCCM build.

Upgrade Path

Depending your actual SCCM version you have different options :

You can upgrade directly to SCCM 1511 if you’re running the following versions. Keep reading, this guide is for you ! (Cumulative Update are not mandatory)

SCCM 2012 SP1

SCCM 2012 SP2

SCCM 2012 R2

SCCM 2012 R2 SP1

If you’re running SCCM 2012 (non-SP), you need to apply first Service Pack 1 or Service Pack 2 before upgrading. Use our blog post to apply it and come back to this guide afterward

If you’re running a Technical Preview on your lab server. Completely uninstall it before doing a fresh install. An upgrade is not supported from a Technical Preview version

If you’re running SCCM 2007 a side-by-side migration is still possible but you must first start by a fresh install on a separate server. Supported SCCM 2007 is SP2+

Prerequisites

Our post focus on what needs to be done to upgrade a stand-alone SCCM 2012 R2 SP1 Primary Site to SCCM 1511

If you have a hierarchy with a Central Administration Site and multiple Primary Site, start with the top of the hierarchy (CAS) and go down, upgrading all Primary Sites and Secondary Sites.

You need to upgrade your ADK version to version 10 before the upgrade process. See section Windows Automated Deployment Kit (ADK) of our Windows 10 blog post to know how to upgrade. Also consult this blog post from the product group to use the right version of ADK 10, there’s a bug in the latest release

If you’re planning to use Windows 10 Servicing, you need to consider applying this important WSUS update to your Windows Server. This hotfix is only available for Windows 2012, if you’re running your Software Update Point on Windows 2008, consider moving your SUP to a Windows 2012 server

Database Replication

If you have a database replica for management point, disable Database replication. If you don’t use this function, skip this step and go to the Backup and TestDBupgrade section

Open the SCCM Console, browse to Administration / Site Configuration / Servers and Site System Roles

Select the Site System that hosts the management point that uses the database replica

Right click Management point and select Properties

On the Management Point Database tab, select Use the site database and click Ok

Connect to the SQL server hosting the replica databases

Open SQL Management Studio

Go to Replication / Local subscription

Right click the replica and select Delete. Select Yes to the warning prompt

Right click the publisher database and select Delete. Select Close existing connections and click OK

Connect to the SQL server hosting the site database

Open SQL Management Studio

Go to Replication and select Disable Publishing and Distribution

On the next screen, click Next

Select Yes, disable publishing on this server and click Next, Next, Next

Click Finish

Backup and TestDBUpgrade

Before upgrading, perform a backup of your SCCM database.

It is recommended to test your Configuration Manager database before the upgrade. Detailed procedure is available on Technet, here’s the resumed version :

Backup your site databse

Restore it on a SQL server running the same version as your SCCM SQL instance

On the SQL server, run the SCCM setup command line using the Testdbupgrade switch

Open the log file on C:\ConfigMgrSetup.log

If the process is successful, you can delete the database copy

If you have errors, resolve them on your SCCM server, do a new backup and restart this procedure

After you successfully upgrade a copy of the site database, proceed with the “real” upgrade.

Running Console

Close all running consoles on the server. Check also if remotely logged users are running the console in their sessions. The setup won’t check that and you’ll endup having an error in the installation log at the end of the process.

On the Getting Started screen, select Upgrade this Configuration Manager site

On the Microsoft Software License Terms, check I accept these license terms and click Next

On the Prerequisite Licenses, check all 3 boxes and click Next

On the Prerequisite Downloads screen, specify a location to download the prerequisite files. This folder can be deleted after the upgrade process

The files are downloading

On the Server Language Selection screen, select the language you want to display in the SCCM Console and Reports

On the Client Language Selection screen, specify the display language for your clients

On the Usage Data screen, click Next. This new screen basically tells that you accept that you will send some telemetry data to Microsoft

If you have an Windows Intune Connector enabled, you won’t have the Service Connection Point screen during the upgrade process. The Windows Intune Connector will be automatically replaced by a Service Connection Point

On the Service Connection Point screen, click Next. Connecting to the service enables your hierarchy to stays updated

On the Settings Summary screen, you will see that you are performing an Upgrade, click Next

The Prerequisite Check is running

You should have no errors since your site is already installed and running

Wait for Prerequisite checking has completed and click on Begin Install

The installation is in progress. The installation will run for about 30 to 45 minutes depending of your server specifications

You can follow the progress by clicking the View Log button or open the ConfigMgrSetup.log file on the C:\ drive

Wait for Core setup has completed and close the wizard

Verification

Once the setup has completed, there’s a couple of check that you can make to be sure the upgrade process was successful.

Console

Open the SCCM Console and click on the upper left corner on the blue arrow and select About Configuration Manager

The Console has been upgraded to SCCM 1511 – 5.00.8325.100

Site

Go to Administration / Site Configuration / Sites

Right-click your site and select Properties

The Site Version and Build Numbers has been upgraded to 5.00.8325.1000

Clients

The site server client version will be upgraded to 5.00.8325.1000. A full list of client version is available on this post.

Boot Image

Go to Software Library / Operating Systems / Boot Images

Validate that the Boot Images has been automatically upgraded to WinPE 10 on your distribution points

Packages

Go to Software Library / Application Management / Packages

Validate that the Configuration Manager Client Package has been automatically distributed on your distribution points

Post Upgrade

Upgrading your Secondary Sites

If you have any Secondary Sites, you need to manually upgrade them after the migration.

Go to Administration / Site Configuration / Sites

Select your Secondary Site and click Upgrade on the top ribbon

Click Yes to confirm

You can follow the process by selecting the Show Install Status option on the top ribbon

Intune

If you use Intune with SCCM, at the top-level site upgrades, install a service connection point. This site system role must also be reconfigured with your Intune subscription.

Database Replication

Enable the database replicas for Management Points, if it was configured before the upgrade.

Maintenance Tasks

Reconfigure any database maintenance tasks you disabled prior to the upgrade. If you disabled database Maintenance tasks for SCCM at a site prior to the upgrade, reconfigure those tasks at the site using the same settings that were in place prior to the upgrade

Updating the Clients and Consoles

Once your site is successfully upgraded, you need to upgrade the clients and console to SCCM 1511. A lower version of the console won’t be able to connect to a newer site. A outdated client will still be able to communicate with your Management Point but we recommend to update them.

Console

You can manually upgrade by browsing to .\ConfigMgrInstallationFolder\tools\ConsoleSetup and execute ConsoleSetup.exe on each computer running the console.

We suggest to create a package or application pointing on the same directory and deploy it using a collection.

sccm 2012 r2 sp1 upgrade

Founder of System Center Dudes. Based in Montreal, Canada, Senior Microsoft SCCM Consultant, 4 times Enterprise Mobility MVP. Working in the industry since 1999. His specialization is designing, deploying and configuring SCCM, mass deployment of Windows operating systems, Office 365 and Intunes deployments.

89 Comments on “Step-by-Step SCCM 1511 Upgrade Guide”

Thanks for the very helpful install guides. You should make one clarification at the top:

‘Child primary sites start the CU update automatically after the central administration site completes installation of the update.’
‘You must manually update secondary sites from within the Configuration Manager console after the primary parent site update is complete. Automatic update of secondary site servers is not supported.’

http://www.cursus-vergelijken.nl/tag/coupe
Shopping for a used or new auto might be a hard method unless you know what you will be carrying out. By teaching yourself about vehicle purchasing before you decide to go to the car dealership, you can make stuff easier for your self. The following tips will help the next shopping vacation become more enjoyable.

Constantly provide a auto mechanic coupled when shopping for a whole new vehicle. Auto sellers are notorious for marketing lemons and you may not want to be their following victim. When you can not obtain a technician to consider vehicles along, no less than be sure that you have him look at your ultimate decision before buying it.

Know your restrictions. Before you begin shopping for your next auto or van, choose what you can manage to shell out, and adhere to it. Don’t overlook to include fascination with your calculations. You will definitely shell out about 20 percent as an advance payment as well, so prepare yourself.

Before attending a dealer, know what kind of vehicle you would like. Investigation most of you choices ahead of store shopping so you can evaluate which works well with your financial budget and household demands. Do your research to discover exactly how much you need to be paying to get a possible car.

Before signing any contract spend some time to read through each collection, such as the fine print. When there is anything at all outlined you do not recognize, usually do not signal till you purchase an solution which you recognize. Unsavory salesmen can use a contract to put many charges that have been not mentioned.

In the event you keep the previous assistance under consideration the very next time that you simply go looking for a car, you will certainly be more likely to get a better bargain. Getting a car does not have as a frustration. Simply use the guidelines with this post and you may obtain the automobile you want in a good value.

Thanks for the very helpful install guides. You should make one clarification at the top:

‘Child primary sites start the CU update automatically after the central administration site completes installation of the update.’
‘You must manually update secondary sites from within the Configuration Manager console after the primary parent site update is complete. Automatic update of secondary site servers is not supported.’

Hi. I’ve been tasked with upgrading our SCCM infrastructure to 1606. We are on SCCM 2012 R2 SP1 – CU3 (5.00.8239.1403). I am reading that it is possible to go straight to version 1606, by using the 1606 ISO. However, other posts say I need to upgrade to 1511 first. Which option should I use? We have 1 Site with about 4000 active devices and 83 DPs (plus an internet facing server hosting SUP, MP, and DP in a separate AD forest and domain). If I am to go directly to 1606, do I simply do it using the ISO image (can’t do update in console), and also, would it be a big problem if some of the DPs were unreachable at the time of upgrade (some of our remote DPs get turned off after hours and on weekends) ?

I had the same issue. I contacted VLSC support and was told it was only available on MSDN. Our VLSC only had the 2012 products and the Current Branch version. Microsoft System Center support also told me the same thing and referred me to MSDN. So, we had to activate an MSDN subscription to finally be able to get the 1511 ISO file.

Ultimately, I want to get our System Centre to the latest version of 1602 before we start deploying Windows 10 2016 LTSB, though I have to migrate to 1151 first.

I am struggling to find a download for System Centre 1151. It is not appearing on our VLSC downloads, and I have also contacted Microsoft’s VLSC support department who stated that System Centre 2012 R2 is the latest version that is supported on VLSC and that newer ones will only appear automatically when they have been made available to VLSC.

On top of that, do I need to purchase a new license for System Centre 1151? Or can I use the existing license, or do I have to obtain a new license at no extra cost?

If I search in our VLSC for simply the term ‘System’, I get the following results:
System Center 2012 Datacenter
System Center 2012 Datacenter with Service Pack 1
System Center 2012 R2 Datacenter
System Center Service Manager Server 2010 with Service Pack 1
Microsoft E-Learning-Win Systems: Win 8, Win 7, Vista, XP (SCORM 1.2 packages)

I see no other results. If I search for the word ‘configuration’, no results are displayed.

I have a client at 2012 R2 SP1 and they’re looking to go to 1606. It’s a single primary site server with about 38K clients and roughly 30 DP’s. Recommending upgrade option from current 2012 R2 SP1 > 1511 > 1606. They had a question regarding the additional site components. Do we have to wait for all site components to update before moving from 1511 > 1606? It took about 24 hours last time when we applied the SP1 patch to 2012 R2. Can we do the 1511 update and once successful move right into the 1606 update the same evening?

Has anyone tried to install the upgrade where the sql is running on an active/passive failover cluster? i’m getting a hard block due to that and don’t know if it’s possible to proceed without rebuilding the sql instance.

Hi, So I’m a little confused. We have a small offline network (40 win7 machines, 10 server 2008 r2 machines, 1 server 2012 r2 with sccm 2012 r2 machine). I was just about to try and install SC2012_SP2_Configmgr_SCEP so I could start to incorporate w10 machines. Well it seems that we will be replacing all the w7 machines with w10 and all the server 2008 r2 machines with server 2012 r2. Will SC2012_SP2_Configmgr_SCEP still work correctly or do I need to move to sccm 1511? What is the real difference between the two?

maybe dumb question but do the addons to the console (like Dell Command | or now micro right click tools) or the mdt 2013 integration need to be reinstalled?
I suppose they do but I don’t see that mentioned anywhere.
thanks for the nice write up btw!

After upgrading to 1511, the TS reboots to windows after installing configuration manager, and does not resume to install any software.
smsts logs: “Failed to get the environment key”
Failed with error code (0x800700EA)
Anyone else experience anything like this?
Thank you

I just updated to 1511 and then 1602, the boot images did copy over to the right path location, however I still see the version 10.0.10240.16384 for version name. Is that a glitch or do I have to do something to show the correct version? I have ADK 10 OEM version installed. Thanks!

When you documented the upgrade to SCCM 2012 R2 SP1 you said it was fine to upgrade your production environment with the install downloaded from the evalcenter. This time you’re saying to get it from the volume licensing site. Is there a reason not to use the file from the eval center this time?

While running the Setup.exe /testdbupgrade step, I had several permissions issues that I had to work out with my db admin. It turns out that db_owner did not suffice to run this test upgrade. The db admin had to give me “sa” permissions on the test sql server to run the test upgrade on the backup database.

Did anyone else have this problem? I do not see any reference to SQL permissions on this how-to, nor on the Technet article referenced regarding this SQL test upgrade.

The Automatic client upgrade process let you choose a number of days to span the installation. SCCM will create a schedule task on all clients. (For example you put 14 days, it will create a task between 1 and 14 days for the installation to last 14 days)

This section in our console is greyed out, and we’re unable to check the box….
“Check the Upgrade client automatically when new client updates are available”
What are we missing to be able to use this to upgrade the clients

Do you need to download version 1511 from the volume license site or can you use the trial version as with the previous upgrade to sp1? for some reason my volume license site does not show this version.

Hi,
It was a bit hard to find, and at least for me the search for ‘System center’ didn’t find it. I just browsed all server software, and somewhere there was it. There is no version information on the name, because it’s just ‘System Center Configuration Manager’ now.

Has anyone tried upgrading with the trial version if the existing installation of SCCM 2012 is MSDN or VLSC? As someone else noted, there have been notes that you can do that with prior release updates, but I haven’t seen a response on doing it with the move to SCCM v1511 or later. Thanks!

Can the newer SCCM 1511 Management Console access an SCCM site which is a lower version (5.0.7958.1604) ? We are getting the following message: The Configuration Manager Administrator console could not connect to the Configuration Manager site database. Verify the version of the console is compatible with the version of the site server you are connecting to and then try to connect again.

We updated to 1511 and the primary did fine. However, when upgrading the Secondary DPs, it would fail. We later found out the SQL connections were on the wrong TCP port. How can this happen when it was working just fine? All our packages were working distributed before the update and it would happen to fail now during the upgrade of our secondary.

Hello, First great job in this article.
Did the procedures, installed the KB referring to WSUS; the WSUS console appears to products and Classification option -> Upgrades, OK.
However in Administration -> Sites -> Software Update Point -> Classification does not show the Upgrades option.
Synchronize Sofware Updates it´s OK. Any idea what could be?
It is mandatory to update the Windows ADK v1511, since I already have the Windows 10 version ADK (10240)?

Naproxen did nothing for me either. I’ve been given Panadol Osteo which again does nothing. Panadeine forte, Which used to knock me straight out but now it has no effect. More recently I’ve been put on lyrica for pain but all it does is makeï»¿ me feel almost drunk – I can’t talk properly or walk and I make a fool of myself – and then it wears off and it hasn’t helped one bit. And I have valdoxan for sleep but again, it does nothing.

Thanks for Upgrade Guide.
I followed your guide and the upgrade seems to be done well.
I have just one question: Normally after each upgrade I have new Software Packages for the Client and the Console available in the Console under: Software Library->Application Management->Packages->Configuration Manager Updates. But now there aren’t these Updates. Is this the normal after the 1511 Upgrade?

Please confirm that the Windows 10 Servicing within ConfigMgr 1511 is broken. MS is silent on the issue. Any attempt for the servicing plan rules to download the updates result in an error. There are a few posts online describing this and also a Connect bug for it.

We’re currently running SCCM 2012 R2 SP1 on Windows Server 2008 R2 with SQL Server 2008 R2 SP2. Looking at future support it would seem that we might be better looking towards installing SCCM on a Windows 2012 R2 server and migrating our current setup? If this is the case, are there any guides that you recommend following?

I am currently running SCCM 2012 R2 SP1 with CU2 and ADK 10 and MDT 2013 Update 1 on Windows Server 2008 R2 with SQL Server 2008 R2 SP2. I am sure we cannot upgrade to sccm 1511 without SQL 2012 R2 and Windows 2012 R2. Are there any guides that I can migrate?

Hi Keywan,
Thanks for your comment!
You could upgrade to v1511 even if you are running WinServer 2k8R2 with earlier SQL versions.
The only part that would not work is Windows 10 Servicing as this require WSUS4.0, which comes with Windows Server 2012+.

Hi Jonathan,
Thanks for your replay. Yes I know I can upgrade that to sccm 1511 with SQL 2008 R2 SP3 and Windows 2008 R2, but I cannot use windows 10 Servicing and further upgrades sccm 2016 I need a new SQL Server 2014 and Windows 2012 R2. If I install a fresh sccm 1511 on Win 2012 R2 and SQL 2014, should the servername, IP, Partition the same like running sccm 2012 R2 SP1? Because of side by side migration or backup and restore?
Best regards

Hi Jonathan,
I am not sure if I have to reinstall SCCM 2012 R2SP1 again. I if go and upgrade with backup and restore, I dont need to reinstall sccm 2012 R2sp1 again, I only need to restore my backup to the new machine with wind2012R2 and SQL2014
BR
Keywan

Hi
I am trying to download the pre-req, but during downloading of SQLSysClrTypes.msi I am getting “ERROR: Failed to verify ‘F:\Binaries\v1511Pre-Req\SQLSysClrTypes.msi’ authenticode signature.” “ERROR: File signature check failed for F:\Binaries\v1511Pre-Req\SQLSysClrTypes.msi” and download fails. I even tried to externall download this file from http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=617193 but even the downloaded file is giving the error. Any workaround ?

Thank you for the response. I am able to download all the remaining files without issues. I even tried to download this file manually from the Microsoft site, but that too did not get validated from the setup. Below is the error that I get in my log, which says that it is able to download the file, verify the hash but unable to authenticate the signature.

We’re currently running SCCM 2012 R2 SP1 on Windows Server 2008 R2 with SQL Server 2008 R2 SP2. Looking at future support it would seem that we might be better looking towards installing SCCM on a Windows 2012 R2 server and migrating our current setup? If this is the case, are there any guides that you recommend following?

If your current installation is:
Your options include:
A fully licensed installation that runs one of the following:
System Center 2012 Configuration Manager with Service Pack 1
System Center 2012 Configuration Manager with Service Pack 2
System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager
System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager with Service Pack 1

first of all id like to applaud for the awesome page you’ve maintained and all the usefull information you provide here…secondly I would wana know if you’re still taking orders i wana place an order for sunda 1st january for my brthday…gimme your email address and ill mail you the details thank you

Actually found the answer:
Software Center
Software Center has a new, modern look and apps that previously only appeared in the Application Catalog (user-available apps) now appear in Software Center under the Applications tab.
This makes these deployments more discoverable to users and removes the need for them to use the Application Catalog. Additionally, a Silverlight enabled browser is no longer required.